Returning player - What's your favourite way to level up?

Kozato

I haven't properly played in at least a year, the champion points are strange and the map has loads of new places. All weird. So my question is, what's the most fun, doesn't have to be the fastest (not snail pace either) to level up? is there a new quest line that really stands out? dolmen farming? certain kind of PvE content? I used to be good enough to solo dungeons so the difficulty is something I can adapt to I think. I just want a way to gain levels and not have a boring grind that'll make me log off. I've also done the main quest line a million times so please don't suggest that lol. I should note I have nobody to play with so that makes it a little more difficult. I don't have any guilds and I don't like those 500 member places where nobody knows anyone

lordxyrax_ESO

I haven't rolled a new character in years but in the past whenever I did I would level up by going through all the quests and story lines in every zone one by one. Typically in the order of release.

NettleCarrier

Run around getting skyshards, public dungeon group bosses, and anything that increases a skill line you need like Psijic, Mage's or Fighter's guild. Queue for dungeons while doing those things.

There are faster ways to 50, but you pretty much need the skill points and guild grinds anyway so you might as well do them now than starting from scratch at 50.

OlumoGarbag

If your not lvl 50 yet:
- You want to do hard endgame content as fast as possible-> skyreach, spellscar, blackrose prison + the daily battleground and dungeon wearing trainingsgear
- your not sure yet-> don't grind at all or you burn out, just enjoy the game till your max lvl

If your lvl 50 but not cp1200+ :
- just do your favourite activities wearing 7 pieces trainings armor this way youll lvl up without really grinding
Anyone suggesting divine gear to low cp players is absolutely clueless.

FrancisCrawford

Public dungeons give 1 1/3 skill points each. In most cases they can also give a lot of XP if you hang around farming for a while.

Goregrinder

AoE grinding man, the old school way. I AoE grinded my first toon to VR1, and have AoE grinded 7 toons to 50. Quests are just mind numbing to me, and are only there to be a step towards something I need, nothing more.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

On your first few characters, play the story.

On your last few character, Netflix and Grind.

You can grind to 50 in an evening if you want, but it really depends on what you are back to do. If you are back for the new quests and overland content, then just play that. If you are back to get into tougher PVP or PVE Vet content, just rip the bandaid off and kill some zombies.

SidraWillowsky

My method is absurdly expensive, but I do skyshards/dungeons/quests that look interesting til I hit level 30-35, then I spend millions on alchemy writs, get my character to level 50 in Alchemy and distribute skill points there as needed, make all of the potions/poisons for the writs in advance, pop a 150% XP scroll, and go to town turning them in in Mournhold. Assuming I have everything properly pre-made, 35-50 takes about five minutes.

Lazy and costly, but I just do NOT have it in me to grind out 35-50 any longer.

zaria

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

On your first few characters, play the story.

On your last few character, Netflix and Grind.

You can grind to 50 in an evening if you want, but it really depends on what you are back to do. If you are back for the new quests and overland content, then just play that. If you are back to get into tougher PVP or PVE Vet content, just rip the bandaid off and kill some zombies.

If you have an hurry to get the character going then yes.
If not do random normal dungeons, people love to run with low level ones as it give fast dungeons and you can easy get 2-3 levels in a run and the quest skillpoints are very nice.
Yes you get decent xp doing delves and public dungeons for skyshards and skill points to but you are slow so this might better wait

jssriot

I just do quests and clear zones--clear delves and public dungeons, do all the dolmens, unlock all the wayshrines, get all the skyshards, do all the main zone quest and any other quests I feel like doing (after playing this game for so long, I know which side quests are a pain and just avoid those, but imo most side quests are super fast to do). If I really need to level up faster, for some reason, I throw in dungeons as that toon unlocks them. DLC zone questlines (CWC, Southern Elsweyr and the Reach in particular) are probably my favorite--each quest gives you a skill points, can be speedrun between 2-3 hours if you're familiar with the quests from having done them previously on other toons, and on toons that haven't visited those zones yet, you get XP from discovering all the new places to boot.

I've leveled up over a dozen toons in this game including before One Tamriel and I just don't understand people who complain about the "grind" from 35 to 50. If anything, I feel getting to 50 has always been too fast. Last week I had a toon hit 40 and had her leveled up to 50 in about 4 hours divided between two evening, just doing the above, plus the undaunted, FG and MG dailies, and using a couple of the 50% XP scrolls we get from our log-on rewards because. Like, how fast do people need to get to 50?

As for the person who likes "old school" AoE grinding--how is that even efficient? I know it was popular back under the old vet system because we had so many players from other MMOs who just thought that was the way to do it, and I've tried it in the past on several occasions--even did the whole Skyreach plus XP drink song and dance--and the xp I got from it, especially for the depressing repetition of it all, really wasn't worth it. I just assumed the reason we don't see people doing this as often is because newer players aren't stuck in this MMO herd mentality of "grinding is faster than just playing the game as intended" and realized quickly that it's not worth it compared to other sources of XP in this game. But OK.

ADarklore

I think I'm one of the few who actually LOVES Dolmen runs!! The Auridon dolmens are my favorite... and it's so easy to level up a character, skills, armor, etc... just by running dolmens for hours. Plus, my absolutely favorite title in the game, "Daedric Lord Slayer" can only be achieved through killing Molag Bal's generals at the dolmens.

With Companions, it's also an easy way to level them, plus you get a bunch of Companion gear drops doing dolmens as well. I always use at least a 50% XP buff scroll, but recently have bought a few 150% XP scrolls with gems while running dolmens on a new character.

Danikat

I mainly play open-world questing and sometimes normal mode dungeons so my approach is just to start playing the character and not worry too much about their level.

I only really think about it for the first few levels where I'm trying to make sure I un-hide all the skill lines by using each weapon, armour set etc. at least once and putting 1 skill from each line I want to level onto their bar. Oh, and making sure to unlock the guild quest lines when I can. Other than that I don't really think about it.

Peacatcher

I do Bleakrock and Bal Foyen which gets me to exactly level 10. Then pop into Cyrodiil and unlock continuous attack for the major gallop buff.

Then unlock Psijic so that I can see Psijic portals and then run the base game zone main quest lines and all 6 delves per zone in the order needed for the Psijic line ie DC first then EP and so on.

Tons of skills points and skills levelled up by the time you get to level 50 although there are much quicker methods if you're in a hurry.

amm7sb14_ESO

For me, my favorite way of leveling up is through dungeons. I'm not a fan of the solo questing so I stick with the group content.

JoDiMageio

I RP my toons, and level them up according to their stories.

Going to zones and doing the quests that are relevant for some, my mercs simply run dolmens, delves, public dungeons and do FG quests, my thieves and assassins go out in the world doing their naughty business, etc. Since I'm not looking to level up fast, I just stick to relevant content while picking up whatever quests / activities pop up along the way.

Grandchamp1989

Dolmen farming to level 10 (will be quick)

Then if you make a tank go group dungeon.

If you make a DD que for group dungeon while you farm delves and then progress into public dungeons.

Healer can switch as they're more versatile.

phaneub17_ESO

I would collect all the skyshards first in delves and overland, around level 40+ I add in the public dungeons as well. At level 50 I do the quests as they would be at their maximum rewards in terms of items and exp to feed into CP, the crafting certifications are a massive chunk at this point. If I need a zone along the way, my usual pick is Auridon as the zone has the least annoying terrain and overall questing is straight forward.

The only quests I do early on are those found in delves and Fighters/Mages guild acceptance.

AlnilamE

Participating in guild events or running dungeons with guildies.

Abigail

1. Quests
2. Exploring, collecting skyshards and killing lots of stuff as I travel
3. Delves and public dungeons (the latter for skill points)
4. Lots of random normals on lowbie alts, for transmute stones and skill points
5. When I just want to chill or collect jewelry pieces I do dolmens (not any of the trains)

I've got 9 alts (8 maxed) and have been playing since 2014. At this point there's never a rush to level anything.

xv1_me

Kozato wrote: »

I haven't properly played in at least a year, the champion points are strange and the map has loads of new places. All weird. So my question is, what's the most fun, doesn't have to be the fastest (not snail pace either) to level up? is there a new quest line that really stands out? dolmen farming? certain kind of PvE content? I used to be good enough to solo dungeons so the difficulty is something I can adapt to I think. I just want a way to gain levels and not have a boring grind that'll make me log off. I've also done the main quest line a million times so please don't suggest that lol. I should note I have nobody to play with so that makes it a little more difficult. I don't have any guilds and I don't like those 500 member places where nobody knows anyone

Master writs.

1-50 in less than 20 min easy.

Tandor

Once you've established (or re-established) yourself in the game then the best way to level up is (a) through the content that you most enjoy and (b) at a steady pace so as not to burn yourself out. There are no other approaches that are remotely viable so far as long term enjoyment is concerned.

Even better, regard levelling up as a consequence of playing the game, not the purpose of doing so.

Goregrinder

xv1_me wrote: »

Kozato wrote: »

I haven't properly played in at least a year, the champion points are strange and the map has loads of new places. All weird. So my question is, what's the most fun, doesn't have to be the fastest (not snail pace either) to level up? is there a new quest line that really stands out? dolmen farming? certain kind of PvE content? I used to be good enough to solo dungeons so the difficulty is something I can adapt to I think. I just want a way to gain levels and not have a boring grind that'll make me log off. I've also done the main quest line a million times so please don't suggest that lol. I should note I have nobody to play with so that makes it a little more difficult. I don't have any guilds and I don't like those 500 member places where nobody knows anyone

Master writs.

1-50 in less than 20 min easy.

I actually started doing this the last two toons I leveled to 50, easy peasy lemon squeezy, and I usually only have to drop under a mill gold to go from 3-50 per toon, especially during double XP events. It's nuts!

Tethilia

Best way to level up: Filling up the Map / Antiquities (Just zone out and run into the woods naked for 6 hours)

Most efficient way to level up: Alik'r Dolmens (It will get you to max in under a day if you stack xp scrolls, but you will kill your inner child)

max_only

Battlegrounds til level 50. Get your pvp done early while it’s relatively easy. You can get 1-3 levels from one match

DreamyLu

The thing is, am in ESO to chill and enjoy without any stress. So, my lazy way to level up is to wander freely in explorable, doing whatever I feel for, without any logic/order, and let time does its work. I call it the "pick here and there" method.

Disadvantage of my method: Am slow.
Advantage: grinding doesn't exist for me. I do only what I like when I like. Things just come when they come. No bother.

cynicalbutterfly

When I make a new character, I like to start with the Harbourage quests. Then work my way up to the alliance zone quests from there. I'll also hit up any of the skyshards I can remember while I'm in the area. Normally doesn't take long to get to 50 by doing all of those. I also like to set aside any of the intricate trait items for the newbie that I get on my other characters. Really gives a big boost to the newbie's crafting lines even if I don't plan on using them for crafting.

Also helps to do your daily dungeon. That gives a big exp boost to your newb character. The most important part is to have fun while you're leveling though.

ColovianHastur

Questing.

Farming exp gets boring really quickly, and can easily burn me out of playing ESO.

Quests don't do that to me.

Sarannah

I always do zone quests, starting with the regular tutorial islands, and then the first alliance. Combined with the daily dungeon/BG.

Also, since you are returning, it might be best to start a new character. To get to know the game again.

Kozato

andre499 wrote: »

Questing.

Farming exp gets boring really quickly, and can easily burn me out of playing ESO.

Quests don't do that to me.

what quests would you recommend? any particular quest line, new or old that really stood out and drew you in?

Kozato

xv1_me wrote: »

Kozato wrote: »

I haven't properly played in at least a year, the champion points are strange and the map has loads of new places. All weird. So my question is, what's the most fun, doesn't have to be the fastest (not snail pace either) to level up? is there a new quest line that really stands out? dolmen farming? certain kind of PvE content? I used to be good enough to solo dungeons so the difficulty is something I can adapt to I think. I just want a way to gain levels and not have a boring grind that'll make me log off. I've also done the main quest line a million times so please don't suggest that lol. I should note I have nobody to play with so that makes it a little more difficult. I don't have any guilds and I don't like those 500 member places where nobody knows anyone

Master writs.

1-50 in less than 20 min easy.

writs are something i've never actually tried or even know anything about. where do i start with them and what am i getting from it?

PizzaCat82

Do Everything.
Quest.
Collect Skyshards
PVP.
Battlegrounds
Group Dungeons (base game ones only) with daily quests
Craft.
Explore.

All those things give you XP. If you're on an ALT and just want to be the top level they have dolmen groups in Alikr.